Preparation

Cook garlic and ginger in oil in an 8- to 9-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until softened and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add mirin, soy sauce, and salt (omit salt if making ahead; see cooks' note, below) and simmer, stirring, 15 seconds. Transfer marinade to a bowl and cool to room temperature.

Turn bread loaf on its side and evenly cut crust from bottom of loaf using a long serrated knife, discarding crust, then cut a 3/8-inch-thick slice from bottom and trim crust from sides of slice. Put slice on a baking sheet (reserve rest of loaf for another use) and bake, turning over once, until dry but not colored, 8 minutes total. Remove bread from oven but leave on baking sheet.

Immediately increase oven temperature to 475°F.

Spread top of hot toast with all of shrimp mixture, packing it down into a thick even layer and covering surface entirely. Make sure oven temperature has reached 475°F, then bake shrimp toast until topping is cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer with a large flat spatula to a rack to cool 5 minutes, then transfer to a cutting board.

Halve shrimp toast crosswise with a very sharp knife, then cut each half lengthwise into fourths, making 8 strips total. Cut each strip into 4 pieces. Serve toasts warm or at room temperature.

*Available at Asian markets and some supermarkets.

Cooks' note:
Shrimp can be marinated (without salt in marinade) up to 4 hours. Stir in salt before proceeding.

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Recent Review

I made this for a party and it got
great reviews from my guests. Great
for something that can mostly be
prepared ahead aside from the
baking. I didn't have any mirin on
hand, and used a teaspoon of brown
sugar instead, which seemed to work
out fine.
To cut 32 hors d'oeuvres from one
slice is asking a bit much, I think.
They would be very small and the
mixture does not adhere to itself,
so a lot would probably fall off in
the process. Instead, I'd recommend
distributing the mixture over about
1.5 slices and cutting them to be
about 1- by 2-inches.